How Mobile Forms are Becoming a Game Changer in Facilities Maintenance

The Automation of Facility Inspections

No matter the industry, proper daily facility maintenance is not an easy job. It takes proper scheduling, coordination, and quick reporting in order to get the job done right. But the construction of larger, more elaborate buildings has made the proper management of facilities almost impossible using pen and paper. This has lead to the emergence of mobile forms.

Mobile forms have made collecting data and sending it from Point A to Point B so simple, that receiving so much data in real-time can be overwhelming and make it hard to know how to use it all.

So what is the solution? Creating personalized systems of data reporting and collection!

Converting Data into Dashboards

Mobile forms from GoCanvas enable facility managers to see what is going on in the different parts of their organization without having to leave their office. They can assign inspection reports to technicians and have all the data flow back instantly to their GoCanvas cloud database.

From this point, the data collected in GoCanvas can be exported to a variety of different places.

The first way to share the data collected in GoCanvas is by integrating it into your existing backend software programs using our open API. Programs we integrate with include Sage, NetSuite, Dynamics, SYSPRO, and more. This allows you to collect, share and analyze your data from within the systems you already have setup!

The second option is to create personalized dashboards for your data using GoCanvas Business Insights. This is a tool that allows you to quickly export the data you need and map it into Pivot Tables or Charts that you have created in Excel. If you are not sure what you exactly want, the GoCanvas Professional Services team can create custom dashboards based on the data that you want to report upon.

The third option is connecting your GoCanvas database via Zapier. Zapier allows you to perform "quick integrations" without the need for coding or any IT support whatsoever. You can essential map your data from GoCanvas to over 500+ other web applications in minutes. Read below for an example of Zapier can streamline your facility maintenance reporting by connecting to Google Sheets!

Streamlining Operations with Real-time Reporting

We are always working with clients to come up with new and better ways of utilizing their data.

Our Professional Services team recently created a solution for a building maintenance manager who was having issues with his daily inspection process. The manager would expect his employees to go out and complete a number of routine inspections including bathroom, HVAC, fire safety systems and more.

Problems arose when inspections began to arrive at his office incomplete and increasingly delayed. This was causing the manager to lose visibility on the daily condition of the facility, and forcing him to manually track down the lost or incomplete forms. He desperately needed a solution to his data reporting issue so that he could recover 100's of hours in lost productivity.

Our Professional Services team recommended implementing GoCanvas mobile forms to increase the speed and accuracy of inspections and connecting the data to Google Sheets to help with the visualization of the data. As you can see below, the Bathroom Inspection mobile form seamlessly takes the data being collected within the facility and pushes it into a chart within Google Sheets. This complex data transfer process is made simple because of Zapier!

The chart in Google Sheets updates in real-time as soon as a report is completed from a inspectors' mobile device. The chart includes the Cleaning Time, Items Inspected/Completed, and Signature of the inspector. This totally eliminates the need for collecting a bunch of paper reports and having to review them individually. The best part is that this type of dashboard can be created for any of their inspections, as well as yours' too!

Want to learn more about going paperless with your facility inspections?